The short answer (read this first)
If you’re a US citizen who has inherited property in Italy, the Italian assets are handled through Italian succession procedures, and you can complete nearly all of it from the United States. The path runs: verify what the estate actually contains → decide whether to accept the inheritance (a real decision, not a formality) → file the declaration of succession → re-register the property in your name. You don’t need to speak Italian, you don’t need to fly back and forth, and you don’t need to figure out an unfamiliar legal system alone: with the right documents and a power of attorney, an attorney in Italy can handle the steps on your behalf, in most cases without you needing to travel.
Maybe you grew up hearing about the family house in the old town; maybe a letter from a relative, a comune, or a notary arrived out of nowhere. Either way, here is what actually happens next, step by step.
Step 1: Find out what’s really in the estate
Americans usually learn of an Italian inheritance informally: a phone call from a cousin, a letter, sometimes years after the death. Before anything else, the situation needs to be verified on paper:
- The death and the family line. The death certificate and civil-status records establish who died and who the potential heirs are under the applicable rules.
- Whether there is a will. Italy keeps registries through which the existence of a registered will can be checked, and a will left with a notary can be traced. Many Italian estates, especially older family ones, have no will at all; Italian law then designates the heirs directly.
- What property exists, and what’s attached to it. Cadastral and land-registry searches identify the properties, how they’re titled (often in shares among relatives who inherited decades ago and never formalized anything), and any mortgages, liens, or claims.
- Debts. An Italian inheritance includes the deceased’s debts, not just assets, which is exactly why the next step exists.
One structural point worth understanding early: for property located in Italy, the succession is administered through Italian procedures regardless of where you live. Which country’s law governs who inherits what can be a genuinely technical question when the deceased or the heirs are American.
Step 2: Accept or renounce (this is a real decision)
Under Italian law you are not automatically the owner of what you’ve been left: an heir must accept the inheritance, and acceptance is a choice with alternatives.
- Acceptance (accettazione) can be express (a formal act) or tacit: behaving like an owner (selling estate property, using estate funds) can count as accepting. That matters, because accepting means accepting the estate as a whole, debts included. Don’t start acting on the assets before deciding.
- Acceptance with benefit of inventory (accettazione con beneficio d’inventario) is a protective middle path: the estate’s debts stay confined to the estate’s assets, so they can’t reach your US assets. It’s often the prudent route when the estate’s debt picture is unclear, and special rules make it the required route in certain cases, such as heirs who are minors.
- Renunciation (rinuncia all’eredità) is the formal way out: if the estate is more burden than benefit, you can renounce through a formal declaration, and the inheritance passes on according to the legal order. Renunciation must be done properly; walking away informally is not the same thing.
There are statutory time limits attached to these choices and to protective steps like the inventory.
Step 3: The declaration of succession (dichiarazione di successione)
The dichiarazione di successione is a required filing with the Italian authorities that maps the estate: the deceased, the heirs and their shares, and the assets, the Italian property above all. It is the administrative backbone of the succession: the later steps, including re-registering the property and eventually selling it, build on it, and it must be filed within a statutory window after the death.
The filing has a tax dimension: tax filings and payments connected to the succession are handled as part of this step, with amounts that depend entirely on the circumstances. We don’t give tax advice; we coordinate this side with qualified tax professionals so the legal and tax filings move together.
For a US-based heir, the practical work is mostly documentary, and most of it originates on your side of the ocean:
- US documents (death certificates for US deaths, marriage/birth records establishing your place in the line) generally need an apostille and a sworn translation for use in Italy;
- every heir needs an Italian codice fiscale (tax code), obtainable through Italian consulates in the US or via your attorney in Italy;
- a power of attorney lets your attorney file and execute the succession steps in Italy without you traveling.
Step 4: Getting the property into your name
After the declaration of succession, the property records are updated so the Italian registries reflect the new ownership: the cadastral re-registration (voltura catastale) and the related land-registry formalities, including recording the acceptance of the inheritance where required (it becomes important the day you want to sell or mortgage the property).
This is the step that turns “the family house is mine now, I think” into a clean, registered title an Italian notary (and a future buyer) will accept.
When there are several heirs (there usually are)
Italian family property has a habit of arriving in shares: you may find yourself co-owner with siblings, cousins, or relatives you’ve never met, sometimes because earlier generations never completed their own successions. A few realities of Italian co-ownership (comunione ereditaria):
- Co-heirs own shares of the whole, not specific rooms or floors; day-to-day decisions and, above all, a sale of the entire property require the co-owners to act together.
- Division (divisione), by agreement or through the courts if agreement fails, is how a co-owned estate is split into individually owned pieces, or converted into money via sale and distribution.
- Buyouts between co-heirs are common and often the cleanest solution when one branch of the family wants to keep the house and another wants liquidity.
In cross-border families, the biggest practical obstacle is usually coordination: heirs scattered across states and countries, each needing a codice fiscale, documents, and signatures. One attorney collecting powers of attorney from all the US heirs and running the succession as a single file is, in our experience, what can make coordination substantially easier.
If the plan is to sell
Many US heirs don’t want to keep the property: they want it lawfully theirs, then sold. Selling inherited Italian property has its own sequence (completed succession and registrations first, then the sale, which you can also sign from the US through a power of attorney), and it deserves its own guide. The essential point: a sale is only as smooth as the succession underneath it; buyers’ notaries check.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to go to Italy to claim my inheritance? No. With a power of attorney prepared for use in Italy (signed before a US notary with an apostille, or at an Italian consulate), your attorney can carry out the succession steps (acceptance, filings, registrations, even a later sale) without you traveling.
Can I refuse an Italian inheritance? Yes. Renunciation is a formal declaration (not just ignoring the letters), and once made, the inheritance passes to the next people in line. It’s the standard tool when an estate carries more debt than value.
What is the declaration of succession? The dichiarazione di successione is the required filing that formally maps the estate (deceased, heirs, shares, and assets) with the Italian authorities. It’s the administrative foundation for re-registering the property and everything after. Related tax filings apply; we coordinate those with qualified tax professionals.
Is there probate in Italy like in the United States? Not in the American sense. There is generally no court-supervised probate proceeding for an ordinary Italian estate; the process runs through formal acts, filings, and registrations, with courts involved only when something is contested or special protections apply.
What if I inherited the property together with relatives I’ve never met? That’s common. You’re co-owners in shares, and a sale of the whole property needs everyone. The workable paths are agreement, buyout, or formal division. In practice, a single attorney coordinating all the heirs’ paperwork (and powers of attorney) is what gets a scattered family to a signature.
What documents will I need from the US side? Typically: certified civil-status records (death, birth, marriage) proving the line, apostilled and sworn-translated for Italy; your codice fiscale; identity documents; and a power of attorney if you won’t travel. The exact list depends on the estate; this is one of the first things we map out in a consultation.
How long does the process take? There’s no single answer. It depends on the estate: how many heirs, how complete the family’s past paperwork is, whether anyone contests, whether a division or sale follows. Some steps have statutory windows, which is a reason to start promptly rather than let an inherited estate sit unresolved for years.
Inherited Italian property? Start with a clear map
An Italian inheritance usually arrives at a hard moment, in a language you may not read, under rules that don’t work like the ones you know. The good news: it’s a defined legal process with defined steps, and a US-based heir can usually complete it without leaving home.
At Coco Ruggeri & Associates, we’re a US-registered Italian cross-border law firm led by an Italian lawyer registered with the Colorado Supreme Court as foreign legal counsel. We verify the estate, advise on acceptance or renunciation, prepare and file the declaration of succession, complete the registrations, coordinate multiple heirs across the US, and, when that’s the goal, handle the sale, all in English, with careful attention to getting the US-side documents right from the start.
To discuss your situation, send us a message through the contact form on our website. If you prefer, you can also call us at 1-303-740-2000.
This article offers general information and is not legal advice. Every inheritance is different: the succession rules, deadlines, and documents that apply depend on the specific estate and family situation. We evaluate each case individually before recommending any step, especially one that could count as accepting an inheritance.
Last updated: October 2026.